Android To Retain Big Lead In Maturing Smartphone Market

As the worldwide smartphone market continues to mature, market research firm IDC expects worldwide shipment growth to slow down significantly over the next few years. For 2014, IDC expects 19.3% growth over 2013 and further predicts that growth will drop to single-digits by 2017.

As for the composition of the market, little changes are expected: Android is expected to retain its position as the dominant operating system, while Apple's iOS is tipped to stabilize its market share around 15%. While Android is especially popular in the low-cost segment, Apple's smartphones still have the highest ASP by far. IDC expects an ASP of $649 for iPhones this year as opposed to $247 for Android devices.